'Hippie bliss scene': The story behind Blue Rodeo's iconic album, Five Days in July

Canadian band Blue Rodeo's album Five Days in July was released 30 years ago and to celebrate the anniversary they're performing its songs in their entirety across the country.

The band will play in Calgary Wednesday night at the Southern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium. Ahead of that show, Blue Rodeo's Jim Cuddy spoke toCalgary Eyeopener hostLoren McGinnis.

The following interview has been edited for clarity and length.

Q: Tell us the story of how the record came together?

A: It follows the record Lost Together. Lost Together was probably the pinnacle of the rock genre of Blue Rodeo. We were loud and we toured all over the place.

When we came back we did a whole bunch of demos. The idea of making another rock record, or even one with a lot of electric guitars, we did not have the appetite for that, we were really burnt out from our travels and from volume, just from volume.

So Glenn [Milchem], I think, suggested that there were enough songs to maybe make an acoustic record that would not have been our normal genre. We went to the record company, said, "This is just a one off. It's going to be a specialty record."

Put it out, do a little tour, and then we'll come back to doing what we're doing. So we decided to camp to Greg [Keelor]'s farm, set up in his living room, got Doug McClements' recording truck, had our friends over, people camping on the lawn, swimming in the pool.

It was just this idyllic hippie bliss scene, and we just recorded live. We just did songs if we were recording and somebody made a mistake in a solo, we just had to do it all again. I think therein also lies the need for simplicity and it was a beautiful thing. We never wrecked any takes. Everybody sort of respected the recording process and we had a lot of fun and it was really easy.

And upon listening back when we would go outside and listen to the tracks, we realized that there was something more than we had anticipated, that even the quiet acoustic sounds had a real grandeur and they had a real power that we had never anticipated.

Q: Years of trying to stay creative and into it, you maybe stretch your legs in different ways, so this you had to go to basics.

A: You play something over the years and you add a little something, especially the little vocal flourishes at the end of lines that just aren't there in the original. So it was interesting to go back and realize that you sometimes have a tendency to add unnecessary things. That the song is already formed before you started putting lipstick on it.

Q: I think I've heard people say stuff like perfect is the enemy of great or something like that. You can overdo it, I guess that's the point.

A: I think that's true. There's not a lot of straightforward music out there. I think that the way that music is made now digitally and with so much time to consider every little millisecond of the song, there's not a lot of just straightforward basic music out there. And I think it still has a not all the time but I think sometimes it has a great power.

Q: You've got a favourite song on [the album]?

A: I don't have a favourite song. Generally, you don't pick favourite songs it's kind of like picking your favourite child, right? You're supposed to like them all.

I remember listening to the playback of Know Where You Go, which is the kind of floating guitar and dobro song. And ultimately, I think it's one that Sarah McLachlan sang on. I remember listening to the playback outside and I've always liked acoustic guitars since I was 10, and listening to Roy Rogers. That was a beautiful example of acoustic guitar. I don't even play on the song, so it's certainly not egotistical to say that it was beautifully played and I loved it.

I still remember listening to it and it was at that point that I thought, "Wow, we really have something here, and I wonder how everybody else will receive it."

WATCH| In 1988 Jim Cuddy and Greg Keelor sat down for a chat with CBC:

Blue Rodeo on becoming popular

36 years ago

Duration 1:54

Jim Cuddy and Greg Keelor, songwriters for Blue Rodeo, discuss their music in 1988.

Q: I know in the lead up to your date here in Calgary, you've been through B.C.'s interior and fairly close to crossing paths with this brutal and incredible wildfire situation there. What happened?

A: The closest we got was when we were in Salmon Arm and there was ash falling all the time. It was just like a little sprinkle of ash everywhere, and the smoke was thick. We were the last band to play, I guess we played on Friday night, and the power had gone out and then came back on.

We played and then they cancelled the festival the next day. They closed all the airports, so most of the artists were having trouble getting to Salmon Arm. They closed roads, so we had to double back. It took us an incredibly long time to get to Grande Prairie that is driving through the mountains and driving on Highway 1 and just driving through this thick smoke.

No matter how many times you've seen it, it's still remarkable to see it like a fog, and you know it is smoke. Then all of a sudden, just before the Alberta border, it just cleared up and it was completely clear.

Q: Given all that, you're touring on this record that's 30 years old, what role do you hope the music plays in times like these?

A: I think that we were well aware that when we were playing in Salmon Arm that we were bringing a little joy to people for a short period of time just before they were about to face something that was going to be very difficult, that their area was going to be shut down and hopefully the fires would be contained.

But I think that it's just generally our job. Our job is to provide entertainment and relief to people. Whether it's just the common tribulations of life or the uncommon like the fires.